Cobra Heat Seat Heaters

[2/16/2004] Reviewed by: Mike Costello - cos@ipa.net

Applicable to: '90 - '97 '99 + 1.6 liter 1.8 liter

Generic kit to upgrade your factory seats to heated seats.

The product appears to be first rate and appear to be the exact product sold
by Katzkin, or the manufacturer used an identical switch. The kit is not that
hard to install and took me about 6 1/2 hours start to finish to do both seats
and wire it up. The kit comes with the heating elements that are clearly marked
for seat back and seat bottom, wiring harness with an inline10amp. fuse, Hi/Off/Low
switch and 3 small cable ties. The instructions were for installation on an
AC Cobra so I had to print off the instructions found in the Garage Section
and ask a few additional questions on wiring in the Forum, which in this case
was invaluable.

From what I've read using zip ties instead of hog rings to re-secure the seat
covers will make the job much easier which is why I chose them. I wired them
in by running an 8 gauge wire from the battery through the passenger side tunnel
and through the hole above the ECU on my 97 (I don't know if other years can
use this path). I picked up an inline fuse pigtail at a local stereo shop that
also is made of an 8 gauge wire with an automotive fuse holder made into it
(I used a 30 amp fuse). I put the pigtail by the battery for the most protection.
In order to make the seat heaters a switchable accessory, (No power when the
ignition is turned off) I ran the ground wires through an auto relay I picked
up at Radio Shack and connected it to the power window positive wire and then
ran a wire to ground at one of the rubber shift boot bolts. There is more than
enough wiring in the harness to mount the switches on your dash if you wish,
but I decided to mount them! where others have, opposite each other on the sides
of the center console forward of the armrest storage bin behind the power window
switches. When your finished there is about 4 feet of wiring harness left over
that you would have to bundle up. I will probably remove the access for a cleaner
look in the future. The heaters work great! They take about 5 minutes to get
up to full bun-burner temperature on high. The low setting is probably where
I'll keep them once fully warmed up. Since you will have to drill out holes
to install them, you must make up your mind if you really want to do this or
not.